‘Sindh has been polio-free for two years due to progressive PPP govt’

A polio vaccination campaign was inaugurated in District Korangi by Waqar Mehdi, special assistant to Sindh’s chief minister, on Saturday. He administered oral polio vaccine (OPV) to under-fives, and urged parents to get their children inoculated against the crippling disease.

“I urge parents not to get influenced by propaganda against the polio vaccine, and get their children two drops of OPV whenever a team of vaccinators knocks on their door,” said Mehdi. He was accompanied by Korangi Deputy Commissioner Dr Muhammad Ali Zaidi.

Mehdi claimed that Sindh has been polio-free for two years because of the progressive provincial government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), saying that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and after her death her daughter Aseefa Bhutto, have worked a lot to make Pakistan, especially Sindh, free from polio.

He said that around 6.7 million under-fives will be administered OPV during the seven-day vaccination drive in Sindh. The drive will start in Sindh’s 21 districts on October 24 and continue until October 30 as part of Sub-National Immunisation Days, he added.

He pointed out that the campaign will be held in the province’s 21 districts, including all the districts of Karachi where a target of over 2.4 million children is to be achieved.

Mehdi said Sindh has not reported a single case of polio since July 2020, but the environment samples returned positive this August. He said that an additional campaign was conducted in high-risk pockets of Karachi, then the environment samples returned negative again.

He pointed out that it is good for the programme and for the future of Pakistan’s children. “If we continue with the same momentum, we’ll see more significant results. But we shouldn’t be complacent, and should continue the efforts until we fully eradicate the virus from every corner of the country.”

He said that in addition to tackling the pandemic, childhood immunisation needs to be conducted to prevent childhood diseases. The benefits of vaccination are clear, as frequent campaigns have significantly reduced the burden of polio across the country, he added.

“Children can be saved from childhood diseases like polio, measles, typhoid, etc. through vaccination, and we seek the media’s help to raise awareness about this.”

Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, the other being Afghanistan, and has so far reported a total of 20 polio cases this year — all in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Pakistan Paediatric Association, the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, medical experts around the world, and prominent religious scholars in Pakistan and across the region endorse OPV as the safest and the most effective for preventing polio and eradicating it from the environment. During the August campaign, over 99.9 per cent coverage was received.